AB2943: Further Engagement on the LGBTQ Discussion

The following articles, one from Christianity Today and the other from the Orange County Register, will help our readers to follow the LGBTQ conversation facilitated by Dr. Kevin Mannoia. To better understand the genesis of these articles, read Dr. Mannoia's article, "Gracefully Engaging the LGBT Conversation", posted on this site, September 2, 2015.

A Bill Banning Reparative Therapy Spurred an Unlikely Relationship

(Christianity Today) September 6, 2018

This spring, California assemblyman Evan Low introduced legislation that would have designated paid “conversion therapy” services as a fraudulent business practice. Until last week, Low’s measure seemed set to pass. It moved through both of California’s legislative chambers and governor Jerry Brown had shown no sign of opposition.

But last Friday, Low quashed his own legislation after meeting with Christian leaders who had expressed concerns about how the bill might affect their ability to minister to those in the LGBT community.

How Christians and LGBTQ people share common ground on Assembly Bill 2943

(Orange County Register) August 27, 2018

By Kevin Mannoia

A pluralistic society that thrives depends upon trust and relational respect among the groups within it. We again find ourselves in the midst of discussions around human sexuality in California. Conservative Christian groups and the LGBTQ Legislative Caucus are immersed in conversations that represent differing perspectives. Yet, at the center there’s common ground that can lay a path forward.

Assembly Bill 2943 represents the latest effort on the part of the LGBTQ Caucus to protect California’s LGBTQ people from the psychological harm of “reparative or conversion therapy.” The decades-old practice claims that such therapy will change the sexual orientation of a person and in effect guarantee to “turn a gay person straight.”